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Image: Julie Shepherd, The Emperor's New Tea Set, 2005. Porcelain (David Leach) slip cast and pierced, 15 piece tea set in pink and white. Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the Artist
Alice Lang, 'Ecto-parasitic Bonnet 3' (2006) Digital Image (Wearable made from wet-look vinyl and wadding), 12 × 16 inches. Courtesy of the artist
Beata Batorowicz, 'Duchamp's Knight' (2002) wire, felt, polyester, hair and hand-knitted fabric, 170 x 90cm. Courtesy of the artist.
Donna Marcus, 'Dodecahedron i' (2002) aluminium, 76 xm diameter. Courtesy of the artist and Dianne Tanzer Gallery.
Debra Porch, detail of 'Tower Eiffels' from 'Quivering' (2004) knitted mohair and wool and souvenir Eiffel Towers and wood, 111 x 26 x 26cm. Courtesy of the artist.
La Femme Domestique questions the perceived natural relationship between women and domestic space.
Drawing on works from the QUT Art Collection and contemporary Australian artists, La Femme Domestique explores a recent artistic trend which has seen artists incorporate and rework craft techniques in contemporary visual art practice. The exhibition also investigates how artists utilise symbols and objects commonly associated with 'the female' and domesticity to question the art/craft divide, stereotypes and hegemonic history.
Image: Julie Shepherd, The Emperor's New Tea Set, 2005. Porcelain (David Leach) slip cast and pierced, 15 piece tea set in pink and white. Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the Artist
Throughout history, much art and craft by female artists has been excluded from the mainstream art-world for being considered intellectually and skilfully inferior.
Beata Batorowicz and Alice Lang respectively knit and sew garments and large soft sculptures imbued with history. Batorowicz realises discontented father/daughter relationships with 'big-name' male art figures through textile techniques in order to critique patriarchal dominance in the visual arts. By comparison, Lang combines handmade, parasitical garments with references to historical portraiture to question constructed societal roles and stereotypes of women.
Donna Marcus and Madonna Staunton transform the nature of objects commonly found in the home by stripping the objects of their functions while preserving inherent symbolism. Marcus' assemblages of recycled aluminium kitchenware from the post-war period evoke connections with the nuclear family ideal and visions of the '1950s housewife'. Similarly, Staunton's coat-hanger and safety-pin works revive easily overlooked domestic objects, instilling them with new life. Through their practices Marcus and Staunton both elevate humble, everyday items into the realm of high art. Their works are indebted to twentieth-century art pioneers such as Marcel Duchamp, and question the divides between high and low art and culture.
Other artists to be displayed in La Femme Domestique include: Sandra Black, Gwyn Hanssen-Pigott, Natalya Hughes, Mel Robson, Debra Porch, Tiffany Shafran, Julie Shepherd, and Rose Simmonds.
